The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1887-06-16
STORIES OF CRIMINALS.
AN EXAMPLE OF "HoNEsTY IS THE
BEST POLICY"

BEST POLICY"
A Prisoner Threatened with Cerebro-
5 spinal HIoningitis-The Hero OF n Hun
dred Burslaries-Barglary as . "Legiti-
Il mate yocation"-No Pardon.
= We have at the New York state reform
atory a casaistry class. One morning the
teacher said: Nov, boys, would like
to get your opinion whether, from the
standpoint of moral casuistry, honesty is
the best policy, after an" One Of those
fellows answered.: ~ believe that honesty
is the hest policy, though am not an.
honest man myself. L know two fellows
in New York, who used to be crooks, and
were always getting into trouble, but they
reformed and got In luck. They went
over to Philadelphia and went into the
clothing business, first rs clerks and they.
Kept right along Tor eight or nine years,
and finally they got to own an establish
ment, and people had confidence i'm them,
and they got credit to the extent of $500,
600, and they got away with the whole
of it, 5s,if ,l<2~f at.%@aE. t.-s..-> 4, .l..I
Q When i'm the Ohio penitentiary one day,
the wife OF q prisoner, an accomplished
New England lady, handsome, cultivated,
irresistible-to the chaplain, anyhow
solicited my offices to go with her to the
governor to ask for his pardon. had to
say to her: "No, madam, there are hun
drcd men here more deserving of par
don than your husband. will introduce
you to the governor, but Twill not intercede
for the pardon Of your husband. took
the precaution to 60 to the governor in adj
vance, and, explain to him the situation.
She presented certificate from the prison
physician. The governor read it slowly:
Charles W, convicted, mt such time
and place, of the crime of larceny of n
horse and buggy, is now under conviction
for his first offense, and he Is in imminent
danger Of c-e-r-e-b -spinal-m-e-n-
menin-mening-i-t-i-s." At once he ex-
claimed: "Good heavensl has he got all
that! Let him gos' His clerk made out
the necessary papers for the prisoners re-
lease. It required four men to hold him
in the prison hospital, and four men to
take him from the hospital to the carriage.
A half an hour later found him lying In
bed in the fourth story of hotel, having
walked up stairs without any assistance
whatever. $40 ...-....,s. - g.. ....
3 ..-.. A HUNDRED DuRGLARrEs. $50 ...
l once had the pleasure of making q
visit, with the governor of the state of
Illinois, to the penitentiary at Joliet.
There was confined In It at the time q very
noted burglar from the city of Chicago
The governor had promised that he would
have some conversation with him I'm re-
gard to an alibi which he claimed to be
able to prove, and which would establish
his innocence of the crime of which he had
been convicted. Ihad some impression of
the character of this man when saw the
warden, on sending for him, open drawer
In his desk, take out q revolver, and put
1t In his pocket. The prisoner was brought
In, and the governor listened to the tale of
his abb. At its conclusion he inquired:
"How many burglaries have you ever
committedf'' .,EE .4 .....
II don't know, governor never kept
count. / suppose about htsndfed e'.i
: "You have been a very bad man."
"Who says so, governor" ~...
The governor was taken somewhat
aback, and answered.: "The newspapers. ("
"Why, governor, / have seen YOUR
name In the newspapers once or twice.
If they will say such things about man
In your position, what must be expected
of man in mine''
He went on to remark that he need
have no hesitation in granting him par
don, for, though he made no professions
of repentance-it would be absurd to do
that-he had come to the conclusion,
while in prison, that life of crime does
not pay. He had tried IL. He had been
all his life burglar, he had robbed
banks, he had had hundreds of thousands
Of dollars pass through his hands and he
was just as poor as when he began; and,
having come to that conclusion, lie felt
that the governor might safely release
him, since he fully meant to quit the
business and follow some other pursuit
for a living. ..r.-. u... -. .......
IL A LEGITIMATE VOCATION.
But, in so far as burglary i'm itself was
concerned, he wished him to understand
that he regarded It as Just as legitimate
q vocation I'm life as the practice of law
or of medicine-or the preaching of the
Gospel. & ~
The governor asked: Glow do you
make that outY'
"Why, property has certain rights,
powers and privileges. Il must have
corresponding obligations, and the first
duty Of property is to take care of itself
IL in a country neighborhood there are
three stores doing general business, and
there is not business enough to support
more than two merchants families, what
happens2 Two Of those merchants COM
bine against the third, and by judicious
application of the laws of trade, they
drive him out of business and divert to
their own pockets the profits which he
otherwise would have made. Everybody
says that is right. Now, what difference
does it make whether this is done by q
judieiops use Of the laws of trade or by a
more summary proeess9 Why, governor,
you know very well that there are great
many men In this world who are rich who
have no more right to what they have
than you or l." ,a ga ass r.L1
"Do understand" said the governor,
'that you confine yourself in your depre
dations to that class of peoples''
''Oh," he replied, 81 atm toll atm to-
The last man ! robbed was member Of
congress,h
it Is needless to say that the governor
did not pardon him. He served his term,
has since served term in the Eastern
penitentiary of Pennsylvania, and is un.
derstood now to be in the Virginia peni.
Tertiary at Richmond. - international
Record. as;ae